Cement-block machine.



PATENTED NOV. 7. 1905.

J. I. HANCOCK. CEMENT BLOCK MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED snma, 1904.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

PATENTED NOV. 7, 1905.

J. I. HANCOCK. CEMENT BLQOK MACHINE. APPLICATION I-ILED snms, 1904.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

Wi messes z JOHN I. HANCOCK, OF LESTERSHIRE, NEW YORK.

I CEMENT-BLOCK MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented NOV. 7, 1905.

Application filed September 3, 1904:. Serial No. 223,260.

To all whom it 77 1/6717] concern:

Be it known that 1, JOHN I. HANCOCK, acitizen of the United States,residing at Lestershire, in the county of Broome and State of New York,have invented a new and useful Cement-Block Machine, of which thefollowing is a specification.

This invention relates to machines for making artificial-stonebuilding-blocks, and has for its object to provide an inexpensive,dura-. ble, and comparatively simple machine of this character by meansof which hollow buildingbloclrs may be conveniently and expeditiouslymanufactured.

A further object of the invention is to provide means for adjusting thefront and rear walls of the mold laterally to thereby permit theformation of blocks of different widths.

A further object is to provide improved means for elevating the coremembers, so as to permit the same to be readily detached preparatory toremoving said block from the mold. I

A further object is to provide means for automatically releasing the endwalls of the mold when the front wall thereof is moved to open positionand means for returning said end walls to closed position by the closingmovement of said front Wall.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a mold capable ofbeing readily altered, so as to permit the formation of return or cornerblocks.

The invention consists in the construction and novel combination andarrangement of parts hereinafter fully described, illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, and pointed out in the claims hereto appended, itbeing understood that various changes in the form, proportion, and minordetails of construction may be resorted to without departing from theprinciple or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

In the accompanying drawings, forming a part of the specification,Figure 1 is a perspective view of a molding-machine constructed inaccordance with my invention,

- showing the front and end walls open and the removable bottom plateresting against the frame of the machine. Fig. 2 is a similar Viewshowing the walls of the mold in closed position. Fig. 3 is a detailperspective view of core-ejector detached. Fig. 1 is a transversesectional view of Fig. 2. Fig. 5 is a longitudinal sectionalview of Fig.2,. Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the machine, showing the same readyfor molding return or corner blocks.

Similar numerals of reference indicate corresponding parts in all thefigures of the drawings.

The machine comprises a substantially rectangular frame 5, formed ofwood, metal, or other suitable material and to which is secured thebed-plate 6, said bed-plate and frame being fastened in any suitablemanner to supporting-legs 7 as shown. Arranged at the rear of themachine and slidably mounted on guides 8, secured to the rectangularframe, is a movable frame or carriage 9, to which is rigidly secured anupright or standard 10. The standard 10 forms a support for therelatively stationary rear wall 11 of the mold and is preferably of lesswidth than said wall, so as to accommodate the angular extension 12 ofthe end walls 13, the former being hinged,

as indicated at 14, to said standard, so as to permit the end walls tobe swung rearwardly when it is desired to release the molded block. Amovable frame or carriage 15 is also slidably mounted onthe guides 8 atthe front of the machine and serves to support the movable front wall 16of the mold, said wall being pivotally secured to the carriage 15, as

by hinges .17.

The sliding frames 9 and 15 are each provided with longitudinal slots oropenings 18,

adapted to receive bolts 19, which pass through the side walls of thestationary frame 5 and are provided with clamping-nuts 20. By having thefront and rear-walls of the mold secured to the sliding frames, asshown, said walls may be readily adjusted laterally to permit theformation of building-blocks of different widths. The adjustment of thewalls 11 and 16 is effected through the medium of atransversely-disposed threaded rod 21, journaled in suitable bearings22,secured to a cross beam 23. The rod 21 is provided with right andleft hand threads, as shown, and engaging said threaded rod arecorrespondinglythreaded nuts 24, carried by brackets 25, the latterbeing fastenedin any suitable manner to the sliding frames 11 and 16,respectively. The rod 21 passes through the rear wall of the frame 5 andis provided with a terminal crank or handle 26, by means of which saidrod is rotated to reciprocate the sliding frames or carriages, andconsequently increase or diminish the width of the mold, as will bereadily understood. Secured to theopposite ends of the movable walls 11are angularly-disposed brackets v27, the free ends of which extendbeyond the general plane of said wall and are provided with terminalopenings 29 for the reception of pivoted rods 30.

The rods 30 are provided with terminal hooks 31, adapted to engage eyes32 in the angularly-disposed arms 33 of brackets 34, the latter beingsecured in any suitable manner to the end walls 13 of the mold. asshown. By having the front and end walls of the mold connected in thismanner when the front wall is moved to open position by releasing thehooks 35 and swinging said door downwardly the rods 30 will exert arearward thrust on the brackets 34, and thereby cause the end walls ofthe mold to assume the open position shown in Fig. l of the drawings.The mold is provided with a removable bottom board 36, the rear edge ofwhich is recessed, as indicated by 37, to accommodate the standard 10,while the opposite end thereof preferably extends slightly beyond thebed-plate to permit said board to be readily grasped when it is desiredto remove the same.

Mounted for vertical movement beneath the bed-plate 6 is a reciprocatingcore-ejector comprising a transversely-disposed bar 38, carrying a pairof ejecting rods or tubes 39. The upper ends of rods or tubes 39 passthrough alined openings 40 in the bed-plate and removable bottom,respectively, and are provided with squared sockets 41, adapted toreceive the correspondingly-squared shanks 42 of the removable coremembers 43. The lower ends of the rods or tubes are preferablybifurcated, as indicated at 41, and are riveted or otherwise rigidlysecured to the opposite sides of the transverse bar 38, as shown. Thebar 38 reciprocates between vertical guides 45, secured to a cross-beam46, connecting the supporting-legs of the machine, said bar beinglimited in its downward movement by engagement with said cross-beams.

Journaled in the cross-beams 46 is a rock shaft 47, provided with one ormore cam-levers 48, which extend beneath the bar 38 and are operated toraise said bar, and consequently elevate the cores through the medium ofa foot-operated lever 49.

The lever 49 is pivoted to one of the supporting-legs, as indicated at50, and is connected by a rod 51 to a rearwardly and upwardly extendingarm 52, rigidly secured to the rock-shaft 47. The lever 49 is movablyheld in elevated position by the weight of the bar 38 on the cam-lever48, said lever being preferably provided with one or more openings 53,so that the rod 51 may be adjusted to vary the throw of said cam-levers.

In manufacturing the building-blocks the bottom board 36 is first placedin position on the bed-plate of the machine, after which the cores 43are inserted in the rods 39 and the mold closed by swinging the frontwall 16 upwardly to a vertical position. As the wall 16 is swungupwardly the pivoted rods 30 exert a forward pull on the end walls ofthe mold, thereby causing them to assume the position shown in Fig. 2 ofthe drawings and in which position they may be locked by means of thebook 35. The cement. concrete, or other plaster material is thenintroduced in the mold and thoroughly tamped in any well-known manner.After the cement has sufliciently set the cores are elevated bydepressing the foot-lever and said cores removed preparatory toreleasing the block, which latter is effected by swinging the front wall11 to open position in the manner before stated. The block may now bereadily detached by grasping the ends of the bottom board 36 and liftingthe same from the bed-piece and said block carried on the board 36 tothe dryingroom until sufficiently hard for use.

In adjusting the machine to make blocks of different widths the endwalls are detached by removing the screws 54 and others of the desiredwidth substituted.

In making building-blocks of angular formation, such as return or cornerblocks, the mold is arranged in the manner shown in Fig. 6 of thedrawings. When manufacturing corner-blocks, the stationary wall of themold is detached and a shorter one secured in position, after which oneof the end walls 13 is swung rearwardly to open position, therebypractically forming a continuation of the stationary or rear wall, whilethe angular extension 13" of the end wall 1 gives the rear face of theblock the angular formation necessary in blocks of this type. A new rearwall 11 of the desired length is then placed in position and the frontwall 12' and end wall 13 conneeted by an auxiliary end wall 56, asuitable bottom board 57 having first been placed upon the bed-plate ofthe machine.

If desired, an auxiliary core 58 may be secured in any suitable mannerto the board 57, so as to form the angular extension of thebuilding-block with an opening similar to the openings formed by thecore members 43.

The building-blocks may be molded with an exterior finish in imitationof cut or chiseled rock by inserting a die-forming plate in the mold,said plate having the desired design stamped or otherwise imprinted onits operative face.

Having thus described my invention, what is claimed is- 1. In a machinefor forming hollow concrete building-blocks,tl1e combination with aframe, of a mold supported by said frame, a removable bottom board forsaid mold, a core-ejector passing through openings in said bottom boardand provided with terminal sockets, detachable core members engaging thesockets in said core-ejector, and means for operating the ejector tothereby elevate said core members.

2. In a machine for forming hollow concrete building-blocks, thecombination with a supporting-frame, of a mold, an adjustable frameslidably mounted on the supporting-frame, a standard secured to saidsliding frame and forming the rear wall of the mold, end walls pivotedto said standard,.a sliding frame to which the front wall of the mold isconnected, means for securing said sliding frames in adjusted position,and a pivotal connection between the front and end walls of the moldwhereby the opening movement of the former will be imparted to thelatter.

3. In a machine for forminghollow concrete building-blocks,thecombination with a frame, of a mold, guides secured to the .frame, atransversely-disposed bar mounted for vertical movement on said guides,tubes secured to the bars and provided with terminal sockets, coremembers disposed within the mold and detachably engaging said terminalsockets, a cam-lever arranged beneath the transverse bar, and means foroperating said cam-lever to thereby elevate the core members.

4. In a machine for forming hollow concrete building-blocks thecombination with a supporting-frame, of a mold, an adjustable frameslid-ably mounted on the supporting-frame and carrying the rear and endwalls of the mold,

a sliding frame to which the front wall of the mold is secured, athreaded rod engaging both sliding frames for adjusting said frames tovary the distance between the front and rear walls of the mold, andmeans for securing said sliding frames in adjusted position.

5. Inamachine for forming hollow concrete building-blocks, thecombination with a supporting-frame, of a mold, an adjustable frameslidably mounted on the supporting-frame and carrying the rear and endwalls of the mold, a sliding frame to which the front wall of the moldis secured, a threaded rod engaging both frames for adjusting saidframes to vary the distance between the front and rear walls of themold, angular-disposed brackets secured to said front and end walls, androds connecting the brackets whereby the opening movement of the frontof the mold will be imparted to the end walls of the latter.

In testimony that I claim theforegoing as my own I have hereto affixedmy signature in the presence of two witnesses.

I JOHN l. HANCOCK. Witnesses:

R. I. BERTINE,

WILL. H. WVEEKs.

